First off I want to address a mistake I make. Ezio is ITALIAN not FRENCH. (My bad I don't know where I got that he is French from….) so I have changed him. Just a heads up on that. My Beta Reader was a real smart ass on this chapter and came through for me so I could get this posted today. As an example one of the comments she put at the bottom was "(also what's UP with you changing your verb tenses mid-sentence every damn sentence? English mother fucker do you speak it :P )" It had me laughing so bad I had to share it. lol. Anyways, here are 12 pages of "I'm super sorry I left this so long" chapter. Review please and enjoy!

Everything blurred around her as she struggled to pull in another breath. Nothing was as it seemed as images swirled before her eyes in a chaotic mess of bright colors and lights. Ari could see people in surgical masks floating above her face as a rough voice talked to her and stroked her hair. Ari was filled with panic as she slowly became aware of the numbness permeating her upper body. Chest constricting. Lungs gasping for air. Nostrils flaring with each desperate attempt which brought nothing but the metallic smell of blood. She was dimly aware of people screaming in the background. Didn't they understand what was happening to her? Why weren't they helping?! With a huge amount of willpower she was able to open her mouth but nothing came out as her vision spun in rapid circles, which sent her eyes rolling back into her head, and then everything turned to pitch black darkness.

The darkness rapidly dispelled as Ari came out of it with a start and a spinning head. Her chest heaved and she tried to roll onto her side but couldn't. Panic filled her once again until a hand slid behind her back and sat her up just in time for Ari to heave the contents of her stomach into a bucket placed in front of her. She choked on the breathing tubes that had been roughly shoved up her nose and thankful at being able to breathe once more she yanked them out with her left hand. Ari took in huge, deep, gasping breaths of air before turning her head to find Ezio watching her very closely with an equally concerned Ryan behind him.

"What? Were you guys going to sit there and let me choke?" Ari asked glaring at them.

"Well you seem to sound fine now!" Ryan stated. "Of course the first thing you say after being in a coma for two months is a complaint. How did I know that was going to happen?" Ari's eyes widened.

"I was in a coma for two months?!" She asked unbelieving. Ari looked around, Ryan and Ezio looked different. They had changed in just two months. Ryan had grown his hair out, and it hung in dirty blond curls around his face, framing his chin. She had never noticed how handsome he was, with deep brown eyes and strong features. Ezio had cropped his hair short, no doubt for a mission. Ezio also looked taller, older, and had undoubtedly filled out nicely.

"Yes. two months. And a lot has changed in those two months." Ezio said quietly not meeting her eyes.

"Like what?" Ari asked desperately searching their faces.

Ryan waved a hand dismissively. "Now isn't the time." He stood and moved towards the door. "Get some rest Ari."

Ari narrowed her eyes as armed guards moved aside outside of the door to let Ryan and Ezio past. Both of them were acting strangely. Ryan normally would have been the first person to tell her everything that was going on, with an exhaustive list of details and gossip. And where was Altair? He wasn't there when she woke up which stung more than Ari cared to admit so instead of thinking about it, Ari threw back the covers and started pulling off all the wires attached to her. She was Head Assassin. No one kept her in the dark. She went to grab the clothes of the chair with her right hand and nothing happened. Ari looked down confused, her arm just hung there limply at her side. She tried moving, bending her elbow, wiggling her fingers, anything to make it move, and nothing happened. Her mouth opened in shock. No no no no no no no! This could not be happening to her.

,

"Move!" Her hand hung there, silently mocking her, and somewhere deep inside of her she knew it would not move. Somewhere in the distance a girl screamed in an annoyingly high pitched wail. Ari dimly thought it might be her as she picked up whatever was near with her left hand and hurled it against the wall. In this case it was an expensive looking vase. It shattered against the wall and splintered satisfyingly into a thousand fragments so she picked up another and another. Glass shattered as plates and flower vases hit the walls. Tears streamed down her face as the rage drove her forward.

Ari was an assassin to her core. Head assassin for god's sake! She could not afford to lose the use of her arm. She slumped against the wall, glass crunching beneath her bare feet and cut them yet she felt the pain only dimly. An idea flickered across her mind. Ari reached down and gripped a broken piece of glass in her left hand and dug it into her now useless right arm.

She watched as the blood flowed freely, a dark crimson red as she made the gash deeper. But she still felt nothing. Ari started slashing at her arm again and again desperate to feel something. Anything. The blood pooled at her feet and created a warm sticky puddle around her as she finally gave up and threw the piece of glass away from her. Thinking became difficult as she tried to get up and ended up dragging herself into a corner of the room. She closed her eyes in disgust at the trail of blood that followed her, staining the white floor a deep harsh ugly crimson. She had always loved the smell and color of blood before. Now it made her sick.

"Ari, I have some files for you to look over if you are up to..." Ryan's voice trailed off as he stepped into the room. His eyes widened at the sight of shattered glass and blood everywhere.

"Ari!" Ryan's voice betrayed a panic she had never heard before. The glass crunched under his boots as he made his way towards her. Ryan's distress become even more pronounced as he saw Ari shaking in the corner of the room with blood pouring down her arm.

He crouched in front of her and taking her face in his hands gently said, "Ari what did you do?" She swallowed once trying to find her voice to talk,

"I...I can't feel my arm...why can't I feel my arm?" Tears pooled in Ryan's eyes as it finally dawned on him why she had brutally gouged open her arm. He scooped her thin, tiny body up with one arm while putting pressure on her bleeding arm with the other. She didn't fight him, and closed her eyes against his chest. That was the last thing she remembered.

When Ari awoke she had the distinct feeling of being watched yet she kept her eyes shut, desperately hoping her memories were nothing but a terrible dream yet when she peeled open her sore eyes she saw a figure leaning back in a chair, black hood pulled down over his face covering most of his features. The form fitting shirt he wore hugged his broad chest, and his Kevlar chest armor was discarded to the side along with most of his weapons. He had his booted feet propped up on the bedside table and was leaning back in the chair, one hand resting on her ankle. Ari only realized he was asleep when his head tipped forward revealing the reason for his slow and even breaths. The figure stirred once to roll and crack his neck before he settled down once more, this time his head in his hand on the side of her bed. His other hand continued to rest on her ankle.

Ari glanced at her useless arm which had been wrapped in thick white bandages. Rage sparked through her at the sight. She wanted to rip the white restricting cloth off of her arm. Rip it off and then set fire to it. Rip it off and gaze in disgust at what she had become. That proved to be harder than she realized and she started to growl in frustration as she picked at it over and over and over again until in one movement she ripped the cloth off taking several fresh stitches with the hated bandage. The crimson blood started running again and Ari moaned and despite her attempt to stifle it a scream burst out of her. The scream grew and with it came all the rage and fear and grief she felt. The desperation to feel her arm.

The figure at the foot of her bed jerked awake, as his feet slammed to the ground. Ari continued screaming, paying no attention to the man as her nails did more damage to her arm. The stitches came out with satisfying pops and the blood became darker and richer and she felt herself growing weaker. Finally peace would come. But a strong hand gripped her wrist pulling it away from her mangled arm. Why would he take away the one thing that would give her peace? Why would he take away her chance to die?

"Let me go! I have to feel something! Just let me go!" Ari screamed over and over again until the words turned into sobbing pleas. The man had no right to stop her, this was her choice. But that was before the figure pushed back his hood to reveal his face.

"Ari, stop this madness. NOW." The rough, deep, achingly familiar voice commanded. Her fingers twitched as the voice began to register with her mind. Ari began shaking violently and tried to wrench her wrist out of the man's steel grip. He let go of her, gently, only to cup her face in his hands.

"Ari, look at me!" His voice demanded. Ari slowly raised her eyes to his face. Golden eyes stared into her and Ari felt like she was a small child.

"Altair?" She began sobbing as she clutched him.

Altair hit the call nurse button before finally embracing her. He had almost been overcome with joy when he heard she had woken up, but had not imagined the pain seeing her mentally broken would bring to him. He had faithfully sat by her bed waiting for her to awaken every day he could. His life had been as busy as ever with missions, but any free time was spent here, talking to her about his missions because of a small spark of hope he had that somehow somewhere in her mind she could hear him and know he was there. The nurse came in and, much to Altair's relief; Ari let her stitch and bandage her arm.

"I need to get out of this room," Ari said leaning her head on Altair's shoulder. She heaved a dry sob before swallowing, "Please."

Altair glanced once towards the door before helping Ari detach all the wires to the medical instruments. He slid his arm under her knee and around her back and effortlessly lifted her up. She seemed weightless in her emaciation.

"The roof. I want to see the sky." She said.

Altair nodded and carried her to the roof of the compound. Ari sighed in contentment as she finally looked on the dark sky dotted with stars. The city lights spanned out in front of her, yellow and red, each signifying a life, a home, a family. She sighed again before settling down against Altair. He was not quite sure how to handle her being this close to him, but his body did as he automatically wrapped his arms around her and held her close. It wasn't long before he could feel her deep even breaths against his chest, as she finally fell asleep.

Altair let out his own sigh. So much had changed in two months, and Ari was bound to ask him her thousands of questions sooner or later. But how was he to explain everything to her? She would never believe him about Ryan.

Altair had his doubts about the former second in command's alliances and rightly so. Tristan had taken power all too quickly and Ryan had let him without so much as a fight. The brotherhood had not been the same since and assassins were no longer killing for the greater good but being killed by the Templars. The hunters had become the prey. Someone had to be working from the inside and Altair knew exactly who to investigate first on that matter.

Ezio's uneasiness was also worrying. The man was not comfortable around Ryan or Tristan either which implied the young man had the same doubts that Altair himself did. The missions Altair had been sent out on had all ended in horrid conflict with Templar scum, almost as if they were expecting him. His body was covered in more scars in these two months than in the year previous to Tristan's takeover. Now every time mission details were handed to him, it felt like a death sentence. Altair shook his head and stood, taking Ari back to her hospital room.

"She looks so peaceful when sleeping," Altair thought as he brushed stray hairs out of her face. When she was awake, one could see the pain which constantly twisted her face and marred her natural beauty. It hurt him to see her like that, and he dimly wondered why. They had known each other for only a few months before she had been shot, but he had drawn closer to her every day that he sat by her bed and talked to her. Rationally, Altair knew she couldn't hear him, but he did it anyways. Call it force of habit, but it had become quite soothing to Altair. It gave him a chance to unwind and relax after a difficult kill.

Before the shooting Altair had had to report to Ari anyways and tell every detail of the mission and he had continued doing that. It was something familiar and comforting to him. An island of peace while the whole order descended into madness. Deciding once again his room was too far to walk while being so tired, Altair settled down in the chair. He rested his head on the edge of the bed and on impulse reached over to her and placed his scarred hand over her now useless one and squeezed it gently. The sound of her breaths and the warmth coming from her easily pushed him into sleep that night.

"Why are you keeping secrets from me Ryan?" Ari asked while stabbing at her food.

Ryan gave her a look of incredulity, "I would never keep secrets from you!"

"Really? Then why haven't you told me what the hell is going on?!" She yelled. Ryan flinched, Ari had yelled at many but never before at Ryan. The guard outside her door shifted and Ryan swallowed hard. Ezio looked up from his book,

"Hush you'll wake Altair, and lord help us if you do." Ari glanced briefly at the sleeping form of Altair still sprawled out in the chair from the night before. Today wasn't the first time Ari had awakened to a sleeping Altair. Over the past few weeks not many words had been exchanged between them but he was always there. Annoyed she turned her gaze back on Ryan.

"Because nothing is going on! The Templar have simply doubled their attacks. It's nothing new. We all know the natural cycle: they acquire into more money and are able to up their men and by extension their body count. They run out, and their numbers drop." Ryan whispered.

Ari shook her head and seemed to regain her authority with every word she spoke. "I want every mission file."

Ryan's face paled for a few seconds but he easily regained composure... not before Ari noticed it though.

"Ari, you are technically no longer head assassin...Tristan is."

"He's. What." Ari said very quietly.

"The new head assassin." Ryan repeated.

"Why is Tristan head assassin?! You were my second in command! You were supposed to take over if something happened to me!" she yelled and lunged at him. He lurched back but not quickly enough as she grabbed the front of his shirt with her good arm and dragged him forward.

"You let that back stabbing son of a traitor in charge of MY order?!" Ari screamed. Altair woke with a start next to her.

"Let me go Ari." Ryan said.

Ari's eyes narrowed and her face twisted into a sneer as she mocked him "Or you'll you what!? Hit me!? Can't hit a cripple can you!?"

"No I can't."

"Well that's good because I can sure as hell hit you." Ari released his shirt and in one quick movement gave him a strong left cross to the face. Ryan stumbled back looking at her with his devastated puppy dog eyes.

"Get out of my room. I don't want to see your face." Ari spit out. Ryan turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Ari clenched and unclenched her fist, fuming. Satan and Judas together were more trustworthy than Tristan. And now he was in charge of her order. She had worked for years keeping him at bay and out from power.

Of course, Ari had been caught up with Tristan at one point, what girl hadn't? He was handsome, and knew exactly what to say. The relationship had ended badly and then a year later he came back to her on his knees begging for her to marry him. Ari instantly turned him down, finally smart enough not to believe the shit that spilled from his lying traitorous mouth.

It had been war between them ever since and now he was in charge of her order. The order she has dedicated her life to. The order she had rebuilt from the ground up. The order she loved. Ari threw back the covers and got out of bed. Altair watched her cautiously noting the look of determination on her face. It was a relief to see.

"Ari, bella, where are you going?" Ezio asked.

"To see Tristan." Ari answered curtly.

"I am going with you then." Ezio said. Ari just shrugged her shoulders at him. Ezio exchanged a nervous glance with Altair, surprised she gave in that easily.

"I want my order back. Now." Ari said as she slammed her only fist onto Tristan's desk with every point. HER desk.

"Sorry no can do. Cripples aren't exactly welcome in the Order. If they're really good cripples might get a job begging and the city gates." With every poisonous word that Tristan spit out, Ari felt her rage mounting. Her bloodlust rose within her till it was all she could do not to kill him right here and now.

"It does not matter. Malik al Saf ran the order with one arm and did a brilliant job of it!" Ari retorted. "This position is mine. I did not willingly give the title over to you. And Ryan does not have that power as second in command. So get the fuck out of my office before I have you forcibly removed from it."

Tristan threw back his head and started laughing while Ari watched this inexplicable reaction as a tiny bit of fear reared its ugly head within her. This was not how it should have been. He should have slunk away with his tail between his legs but instead he said, still laughing, "Forcibly removed by who? Your assassins? No, they are loyal to me Angel of Death. They always have been. Do you think they wanted to follow a woman's orders? This order is mine. I suggest you get out before I have YOU forcibly removed."

Ari glared at him and wished a thousand horribly painful deaths on his head. One question pounded its way through her head. Was it true? Was ANY of it true? Until she answered those questions a tactical retreat might be wise. So, despite her every instinct which told her to kill him right there and then, she turned on her heal and walked out slamming the door to HER office behind her.

With a sigh, she turned to Ezio.

"I know not how much it shall ease your suffering, but Altair and I would follow you to the death and beyond and there are others still faithful to you, hidden among the ranks, biding their time. Heal. Rest. Learn the nuances of one armed combat. And only then will we discuss your grand coup." Ezio hugged her once quick and tight before walking away.

Ari's shoulders slumped, as the full force of the situation finally hit her. Tristan had probably been the one killing her Novices, and Ryan had been helping. Oh god...Ryan...Ari couldn't even bare that thought. Her childhood best friend, her high school lover, her second in command, and her most trustworthy companion could have been loyal to Tristan this whole time. She shuddered at that thought; if Ryan was a traitor then her whole life and her beloved order were practically built on a lie.

Ari made her way back to her room while carefully avoiding any large groups of assassins. Her room had thankfully been left untouched as exhibited by the thick layers of dust that had settled on every surface. It was clear nobody had been in Ari's room since she descended into her coma two months ago. A hot shower and a good night's sleep were definitely called for... and maybe a hot meal too.

After stepping into the bathroom, she turned on the shower and shed her clothes with some difficulty. Being one handed was a new and altogether unpleasant experience for her so it was understandable that as Ari let the scalding hot water run over her she closed her eyes and finally sobbed. Her life was a disaster. Not like it hadn't been before, but she could deal with it before. But now...her useless right arm mocked her every with every passing second, a constant reminder of how badly she had failed her duties. She knew better than to turn her back on a foe or even worse, to trust people. But she had turned her back and she had trusted Ryan. Unforgivable. Unredeemable. Inexcusable.

This was the first time Ari had really seen herself in a mirror and she almost didn't recognize herself. She looked hauntingly skeletal with atrophied muscles and bones which screamed for release as they jutted alarmingly from every part of her. Her arms, once strong, were now frail, and her ribcage and hipbones protruded. Her skin was ghostly pale and her face was gaunt and deeply lined framed all around with wild, unkempt, and thinning hair. In a word she looked dead.

Inhaling deeply she closed her eyes and pictured what she used to look like. The dependable muscles which lined every part of her body which ran like a finely tuned machine without a scrap of fat to slow her down. Her hair had been shiny and thick and had shimmered different colors in the sun, which had made it one of her best features. Her skin had been pale color but healthy and freckles had constantly dotted her arms from exposure to the sun's unforgiving rays. She opened her eyes and looked once again at the mirror. The only thing that hadn't changed was her eyes which still shone brilliantly green with their own unmistakable mixture of stubbornness, and anger.

It took quite a while but Ari was finally dressed and sitting in bed about to lay down and sleep finally. Her right arm was both mesmerizing and grotesque to her as she traced the stitches carefully with her left fingers. The sudden urge to add more red lines became over whelming, and Ari breathed in sharply. No she wasn't going to do that. Cutter. That word had never described her before. Why had that thought even come across her mind?

"Because you want to feel something in your arm even if it's pain..." Ari thought bitterly. A soft knock at her door temporarily banished her dark thoughts thankfully before Ari could act on them.

"Yes?

"It is me." A rough voice answered from the other side of the door. Ari immediately got up and unlocked the door to let Altair in. He looked tired, and it almost seemed like you could see his own immense pain and darkness deeply hidden in his eyes behind a hazy layer of sleep deprivation. Despite this, he looked amazing with his hair cropped short like Ezio's though the changes two months had wrought in him were more pronounced than Ezio's. He too had aged and she noticed with a slight smile his shoulders were broader, his chest and arms were more defined, and she thought she saw a few new scars peeking out from beneath his clothes, yet the most noticeable change was to his face. Worry and fatigue had etched themselves into new hard lines that accentuated his already stern features.

"What do you need?" Ari asked, stepping back to her bed.

"How do you feel? And do not be false with me with your usual 'okay' or 'I am fine' for I shall not believe you" Altair said as he pulled out her desk chair and sitting down.

"Ha! It's you who needs to answer that question Altair. Are those dark circles under your eyes or did you get punched repeatedly in the face?" Ari said with a hint of a smile. With a shrug of his broad shoulders he brushed off the question.

"I have never been one for sleep."

"Sleeping is one of the only good things I have left. For a few hours while asleep I can forget everything that's happened. It's where reality doesn't exist. Of course a little chloroform would probably do the trick too." Ari said laughing slightly at the end.

"I can never elude reality."

"Forget it. What happened while I was in the hospital?" Ari asked as she hugged a pillow close to herself with her left arm.

Altair clenched his jaw at first unwilling to talk about it but he saw she wouldn't be dissuaded. With a rueful smile he ran his fingers through his hair and grudgingly admitted "I do not know where to start."